Zachary Thomas Granite (born September 17, 1992) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. He played one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Minnesota Twins in 2017.

Career

Granite attended

Tottenville High School Tottenville High School is located at 100 Luten Avenue, in Huguenot, Staten Island, New York. Tottenville H.S. is in Administrative District 31, and is operated by the New York City Department of Education. The school's principal is Gina Battista, ...

in Staten Island, New York. He played for the school's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team as an

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. As a senior, he batted .583 in the postseason and Tottenville won the

Public Schools Athletic League The Public Schools Athletic League, known by the abbreviation PSAL, is an organization that promotes student athletics in the public schools of New York City. It was founded in 1903 to provide and maintain a sports program for students enrolled in ...

championship. He enrolled at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Seton Hall Pirates The Seton Hall Pirates are the intercollegiate athletic sports teams representing Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, New Jersey. The Pirates compete as a member of the NCAA Division I level (non-football sub-level), primarily compet ...

. As a freshman, Granite started in every game, and led the team with a .296

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, .387 on-base percentage, 61 hits, 39 runs, 27 walks, and 10 stolen bases. Granite played for the

Lakeshore Chinooks The Lakeshore Chinooks are a baseball team based in Mequon, Wisconsin, United States and a member of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Chinooks play their home games at Kapco Park on the campus of Concordia Universit ...

in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

in 2012.

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins selected Granite in the 14th round, 410th overall, of the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level Elizabethton Twins, batting .285/.362/.343 in 61 games. The following year, he split the season between the

GCL Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, t ...

and the Single-A

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned ...

, accumulating a .280/.320/.344 batting line in 25 games between the two teams. In 2015, Granite split the year between Cedar Rapids and the High-A

Fort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at H ...

, slashing .266/.349/.328 with 1 home run and 31 RBI. Granite played for the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

of the Double-A Southern League in 2016, and was named the Twins Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .295/.347/.382 with 4 home runs, 52 RBI, and 56 stolen bases. The Twins added Granite to their 40-man roster after the season. Granite played for the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League in 2017, and was named to the

Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League ...

. On July 7, 2017, the Twins promoted Granite to the major leagues for the first time. Granite made his major league debut the following day against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

as a pinch hitter for Ehire Adrianza, flying out in his only at-bat. In 107 plate appearances for the Twins, Granite batted .237/.321/.290 with 1 home run and 13 RBI. Granite batted .140 and injured his shoulder during spring training in 2018. He spent the entire season with Triple-A Rochester, where he batted .211. The Twins designated Granite for assignment on February 25, 2019, when they signed

Marwin González Marwin Javier González (born March 14, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). González was signed as an international free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 2005. ...

Texas Rangers

On March 3, 2019, Granite was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Xavier Moore and cash considerations. Granite was optioned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds to begin the 2019 season, and hit .290/.331/.375/.706 with 3 home runs and 37 RBI on the year. Granite was outrighted off the Rangers 40-man roster on October 31, 2019. On November 4, he elected free agency.

New York Yankees

On November 22, 2019, Granite signed a minor league contract with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

organization. Granite did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Chicago White Sox

On April 2, 2021, Granite signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

organization. Granite played in 51 games for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, slashing .226/.338/.369 with 5 home runs and 24 RBI. On July 12, Granite retired from professional baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granite, Zack 1992 births Living people Baseball players from Staten Island Major League Baseball outfielders Minnesota Twins players Seton Hall Pirates baseball players Elizabethton Twins players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Gulf Coast Twins players Fort Myers Miracle players Chattanooga Lookouts players Rochester Red Wings players Nashville Sounds players Lakeshore Chinooks players Tottenville High School alumni